Former girlfriend of Woody Allen, who was a teen when dating Allen, defends him re: allegations

[quinnox]

Former girlfriend Stacey Nelkin defends Woody Allen, refutes accusations of child abuse and seductive tendencies

With rumors of Woody Allen's sexually abusive behavior resurfacing on the heels of an open letter in "The New York Times," on Monday evening "Piers Morgan Live" welcomed Stacey Nelkin for an exclusive, primetime interview.

Having dated Allen as a teenager, when she was 35 years his junior, Nelkin remains skeptical of the statements penned by Dylan Farrow, who is alleging to have been molested by her adoptive father as a seven-year-old. To Monday's guest, the latest claims are simply an extension of the ugly separation between Allen, and Dylan's adoptive mother, Mia Farrow:

"These accusations came on the heels of a horrible custody battle, Mia being extremely upset, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and she was hell-bent and determined to destroy something that he loved," said Nelkin, who insisted her own relationship with Allen was entirely consensual and not corrupt in the least. "Woody loved Dylan. We were in contact at the time, and he would talk about her a lot. He loved the kids that they had adopted together, and she took Dylan away by creating this whole scenario."

"[They] asked if I would testify and admit that I was 15 when we dated, and I said 'no,' because I was not 15. I was 17, 18 and 19, and to me there's a big distinction between that, and I think they were looking for the fact that, you know, 15 is jail bait. Seventeen is a very different story," said Nelkin, who first met Allen on the set of the film “Manhattan." "I would not go along with that, so I think she was trying to create a pattern of, this is a man who looks for young girls and seduces them unwittingly and that's not true. I was very, very much willing to be dating him, I was thrilled."

http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/03/former-girlfriend-stacey-nelkin-defends-woody-allen-refutes-accusations-of-child-abuse-and-seductive-tendencies/

[dilby]

1. So she was 17 and he was 35 years older?

Hate to say it but I don't think that helps his cause, that is gross.

[quinnox]

2. I think one of the main points is she was there at the time

in contact with Allen, and I thought it was interesting that during this custody battle, they tried to get her to lie about her age that she had dated Allen.

[joeybee12]

4. Face it, people here have made up their minds...

Another DU clusterphuck as if everyone was right there at the time.

[WinkyDink]

69. She said this under oath, then? Why is THIS woman so credible while the adult Dylan is not, HMMMMM?

[supernova]

3. yes, and she's not looking

any too bright, either.

17, 18, 19, and "consentually" dating someone 35 years older; where were her parents?!?

[Gormy Cuss]

55. I had college classmates who were dating profs (similar age differences.)

They were 18 give or take a year, thought nothing of it. If anything they thought it conveyed a status of maturity. I was 17 when I started college and the thought of dating someone even ten years older than me was icky, never mind middle aged rumpled men.

IOW, her fascination I can understand. It's Allen's that gives me pause.

[Arugula Latte]

8. Yep. Exactly.

He has the poor judgment to "date" a teen when he's in his early 40s -- and then make a big movie about it, "Manhattan."

If I'd had been that girl's parents I would have hunted him down.

[progressoid]

22. Bacall was 19 and Bogart was 44

Madonna is currently dating someone 30 yrs her junior.

I have a friend whose husband recently died. He was 72. She is in her late 40's. They were married for 28 years.

[CBGLuthier]

23. all this stupid shit and no one says anything about the old men Mia Farrow kept marrying.

Double fucking standard.

[pnwmom]

24. This is about Dylan Farrow and what she says happened to her, not about who Farrow

had married before Woody.

[sabrina 1]

61. It's about two people who ended up in a nasty custody battle

one accusing the other of child molestation, the courts deciding the child was not abused, after which everyone went on with their lives. We, none of us, was there, so no one can say whether this happened or not. It's always fascinating to see people be so certain they know what happened to people they do not know, in places they never were. Like the Duke Lacrosse case.

I remember getting involved in discussions about that. I remember TRYING to point out that there was ACTUAL EVIDENCE the woman was lying. I remember being called all kinds of names for just POINTING OUT FACTS. They did not WANT facts, they wanted 'justice'.

I was told that 'women don't lie about these things' during this discussions. No one ever apologized to me afterwards, lol!

Children do lie about these things IF they are 'led' to believe they happened. Some lie for a reason, like the girl who told her parents she had not come on time because she was raped. A man went to jail for 20 years because of that. Now a woman, her conscience began to bother her, and she went to the authorities, risking jail herself, to confess that it was all a lie because she was afraid of getting into trouble with her parents.

In the Farrow case, the judicial did not find that the child had been molested. But for some, nothing will ever convince them otherwise.

Anyhow, believe what you want and others will make up their own minds. As for me, I am a 'show me the evidence' person, and in this case, there appears to have been none.

[pnwmom]

63. The courts did NOT decide there was no abuse.

The prosecutor held a press conference at which he explained that he had enough evidence to bring the case to trial, but he decided that it would be too hard on the 7 year old girl to put her through that.

The judge in the family court looked at the evidence and decided to end Woody's visitation with Dylan. He said that the Yale-New Haven report wasn't reliable.

So which court are you saying decided there was no abuse?

Dr. Diane Schetky is an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont, and the co-author of the textbook Child Sexual Abuse and co-editor of Clinical Handbook of Child Psychiatry and the Law.

http://www.andythibault.com/columns/CT%20Magazine%20-%20Apr%2097.htm

The Yale team used psychologists on Allen's payroll to make mental health conclusions. "That seems like a blatant conflict of interest; they should have excluded themselves," Schetky says.

· Custody recommendations were made even though the team never saw Allen and any of the children together. "I'd sure want that information," Schetky says.

· The team refused to interview witnesses who could have corroborated the molestation claims.

· The team destroyed its notes. "I don't know why they would," Schetky says. "They shouldn't have anything to hide, unless there's disagreement."

· Leventhal, the only medical doctor on the team, did not interview Dylan. "How can you write about someone you've never seen?" Schetky asks.

SNIP

Days later, Maco held a press conference in which he said state police had compiled enough evidence to charge Allen with a crime, but that he'd decided not to approve an arrest warrant in order to spare Dylan the trauma of a trial.

[sabrina 1]

64. Because it didn't even get that far. Look, I'm really not interested in this anymore.

There are far too many real victims in this world that deserve attention and are not going to get it if people like me waste time on these tabloid stories. I'm not worried about any of these people, they are all perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, none of them are in need, and if you want to spend your time defending them, feel free.

In many ways the obsession with these movie stars, hollywood, people who are more or less priviliged, tabloid stories, Beiber, et al, lulls people into obsessing over them and neglecting things that have more importance in their own lives. But maybe that's the point, to keep everyone focused on these 'stars' and their problems so they don't have time to do anything about the real issues in this country.

Enjoy this while it lasts, probably about another week or so, and then we'll be on to the next tabloid story with hundreds of comments etc.

I'm out of here wasted too much time already ....

[Starry Messenger]

5. Nope, still gross.

[Xyzse]

6. Does Nelkin have a daughter?

Would she be ok if a 17 year old daughter of hers was dating a guy 35 years older than her?

Under 18 is considered another type of rape after all.

[quinnox]

7. dunno, but she is in her 50s now, and she seems fine with what she did, dating Allen, a much older

man, when she was 17. Doesn't seem traumatized by it, at least.

[Xyzse]

9. There is something called Stockholm syndrome as well.

Doesn't mean it is right.

If it worked for her, that's her experience. There is a reason children are protected before their age of majority.

She doesn't have a daughter. She has no children, which in her words make divorce a little easier but never easy.

I guess, the big thing for me, is if you have a daughter or in my case a niece, would you be alright if some guy 35 years older than her at 17 dates her?

This is not even in part with the Dylan matter. Just thinking it does not help his case.
I don't actually know if what he allegedly did to Dylan has happened, nor do I think that it should affect what awards he gets.

I could still consider him a massive creep just in light of the 35 year old age gap dating some child of 17.

[Comrade Grumpy]

10. Oh, good Lord! n/t

[El_Johns]

42. It was a 24 age gap, less than the 30 year age gap between Farrow & Sinatra -- whom she

started seeing when she was 19.

I guess those two extra years make all the difference.

[gollygee]

31. She isn't in her 50s

if she was 35 years younger than him when they dated if he is 78 now. He'd have to be at least 85 now.

[El_Johns]

36. She's 55. Woody Allen is 79. 24-year difference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stacey_Nelkin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_allen

Sinatra was 30 years older than Farrow and started seeing her when she was 19.

If Allen is creepy, Farrow is equally creepy. Especially if Sinatra is Ronan's father, since it would imply cheating on Woody with a 71-year-old.

[gollygee]

37. Oh ok well that's different than what's in the OP

"Having dated Allen as a teenager, when she was 35 years his junior, Nelkin remains skeptical of the statements penned by Dylan Farrow, who is alleging to have been molested by her adoptive father as a seven-year-old."

[cali]

12. say what? no, under 18 is not necessarily considered "another type of rape"

I'm not even sure what you're talking about.

I think it's creepy, but it's not rape in my state for a 17 year old to have sex with someone who's 40- or 60 for that matter- as long as the older person isn't entrusted with the care of the younger.

[Xyzse]

15. It is called statutory rape.

Which is sex with a minor.
I guess it depends on which state.

[JJChambers]

29. Which state?

The age of consent in states range from 14-18 in the US, with 16 being fairly common.

[Xyzse]

30. These ones.

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_sexual_consent_in_the_United_States

age of consent 18 (11): Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin

[Starry Messenger]

32. California

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2003/olrdata/jud/rpt/2003-r-0376.htm

Anyone who engages in an act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under age 18 and the actor is not more than three years older or three years younger, is guilty of a misdemeanor

Anyone who engages in an act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under age 18 who is more than three years younger than the actor is guilty of either a misdemeanor or a felony

Any person 21 years of age or older who engages in an act of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor who is under 16 years of age is guilty of either a misdemeanor or a felony

I think there are Romeo and Juliet laws for high schoolers. Although it's interesting to me that all the people screaming that 18 year old Kait Hunt was a dirty pervert for having sex with a younger girl when the age difference was much smaller are absent from these threads....

[cali]

70. the problem with hunt was the disgusting web of lies she and her parents pushed.

[quinnox]

13. wow, well, if under 18 is rape, then a lot of teenage boys are guilty

these days. Point being, I have seen statistics that a lot of teens are sexually active before 18.

[Xyzse]

17. That isn't the point.

It depends on age of consent, and that is why there is something about being legal in regards to having sex with a minor.

[blue neen]

33. Oh. Well. That makes it okay then.

The issue is really about adults who are in a position of power and authority sexually abusing minors.

[sibelian]

66. No, actually I think the issue in this case is a whole bunch of bored screechy people looking for

some ick to spice up their mundane lives.

This is tabloid level garbage. It's embarassing to see it on DU.

But never mind. It's one of DU's main hobbies, slobbering around in the celebrity ick.

[BainsBane]

72. You would do well to look at some statutory rape statues

to familiarize yourself with the law. Ironic considering you go around lecturing people about "facts" when you don't know the most basic concepts involved in the case. That anyone should have to explain to you the legal difference between two teenagers having sex and a middle-aged man and an underage girl is disconcerting, to say the least.

[mathematic]

14. Age of consent in NY is currently 17

In most states it's 16. I looked it up today because of this story. So no, "under 18" is not another type of rape in these places and it's not "under age" with respect to having a sexual relationship with adults.

[Xyzse]

19. Thanks for the correction.

It was generally mentioned as 18.

[bettyellen]

48. it used to be 18 in NY, not sure when it got lowered. I think in the 70's .

[former9thward]

28. Not in New York.

Age of consent is 17.

[Whisp]

11. so anyone who is dating anyone knows

whether they could be murderers or arsonists or any host of other crimes they decide to not tell about?

[sabrina 1]

20. Mia Farrow is also a close friend of Roman Polanski, she has defended him in court

actually. I don't why people get involved with people they do not know frankly.

If Farrow is so upset over child abuse you would think she would have ended her own relationship with someone who actually has admitted his involvement with a 13 year old.

[gollygee]

43. She's upset about child abuse of HER OWN CHILD

She doesn't have to be a general abuse advocate to be upset about someone abusing her own child.

[sabrina 1]

60. I'm upset about all child abuse. And would not be going to court to defend someone

I believed, especially since the admitted it, was a child molester if I was claiming to be against it in the first place.

I would think that a mother whose own child was abused would be even MORE angry than someone who has not experienced such a horrific thing, than anyone else regardless of whose child it is.

Sorry, but with all the people who have stated, people who were there, such as nannies eg, who quit because they were being pressured to go along with the story, I have serious doubts this ever happened.

Do people lie about these things? The answer is 'yes' far more often than some people care to admit. Mia Farrow did not help her daughter by teaching her to cling to hatred for Allen. She clearly hates the man, which is her business. But even if that child was abused, the worst thing to do is to promote never letting go of it.

There have been children who have seen their parents and siblings blown to bits in Iraq eg, left to fend for themselves or to hope that someone will look out for them. WE caused this abuse, this trauma to little children.

If we spent as much time on trying to STOP what our government is doing to these little children, as we do to a couple of movie moguls who got into a nasty custody battle more than two decades ago, all of whom are doing quite well, they are rich, they are coddled and treated like kings and queens wherever they go so, Imagine how many children we could save if the same energy and 'concern' for little children was to be focused on forcing our government to end these draconian policies?

Seems a little out of proportion to me, the amount of 'concern' there is for this grown woman who is now happily married, not wanting for anything, with a family who loves her, and then, the total absence of concern for the millions of beautiful children whose lives our government has so adversely and tragically affected.

I know if I put up an OP asking for some interest in some of these children in Iraq, in Pakistan, in Afghanistan, Yemen, it would be lucky if it got a few comments.

Same syndrome Mia Farrow is afflicted with, according to you, total absorbtion in her own problems, zero concern for others with the same problem she purports to care so much about. If you care about something, you care about it, period.

[gollygee]

71. That all has nothing to do with whether

Dylan was molested.

[El_Johns]

38. Or the 71-year-old Sinatra with 41-year-old Farrow -- since Farrow has already admitted she

slept with Sinatra before Satchel/Ronan's birth (otherwise she wouldn't be unclear about whether he could be the father).

Great family values all around.

[blue neen]

53. Frank Sinatra was an adult. Mia Farrow was an adult.

What goes on between two consenting adults isn't really anyone's business. What goes on between an adult and a child is quite a different case.

If you want to express your moral indignation about "great family values", go find Rick Santorum.

[El_Johns]

59. So was Nelkin, 17 being the age of consent in NY. Doesn't stop numerous posters from commenting

on how disgusting the relationship was.

[redqueen]

21. "said Nelkin, who first met Allen on the set of the film “Manhattan.""

So, Manhattan wasn't about his affair with her?

Did he date another teenager as a middle aged man?



Age differences on their own aren't an issue. Dating teenagers, that is fucked up. Spew about the legal definition of an 'adult' all you like, you're just being transparent.

Yes, it's not uncommon, especially for men with lots of power. And no, that doesn't make it all right.


As for "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" - what a sexist load of shit. So not surprising to find out that something like that came out of her mouth.

[justiceischeap]

26. Sounds like a man afraid of being challenged

and thus, hooks up with teens who will admire him and let him be the "boss."

[El_Johns]

39. Whoever wrote that is mistaken. Their relationship began in 1976, when she was 17. At 18,

she had a bit part in Annie Hall. When she was 19, he made "Manhattan".

[pnwmom]

25. Who wants to think they might have dated a pervert? n/t

[BainsBane]

27. The accusations did NOT come on the "heels of a custody battle."

Dylan told her babysitter than her father had been touching her inappropriately. The babysitter told Mia Farrow. Mia called her lawyer. The lawyer wrote Allen a letter. Allen then called a press conference and filed for sole custody. He LOST. The courts denied him custody as they believed Farrow the better parent. Unlike the false statements from Allen's publicists being regurgitated here like gospel, the CT prosecutor did not determine Dylan had been coached but concluded that as a child she would not hold up in a trial. Child abuse victims need support to go through a trial, and they need a prosecutor's office who will provide that support. Millions of child abusers and rapists are never prosecuted. That does not mean Mia coached Dylan. There is no evidence of that. The new evidence we have is of Dylan's own testimony in the NYTimes.

So Woody's old child girlfriend is wrong on the factual points. She appeared on Piers Morgan last night, so I watched her testimony. When Piers Morgan questioned her about the age of consent in LA, which was 18, Melkin suddenly changed her story on a dime to say they didn't get together until she was 18, after previously saying several times that she had been 17.

Melkin likes Woody Allen. She does not know even the chronology of events of the abuse case. She maligned Dylan and Rowan Farrow by saying Dylan was speaking up for publicity because Rowan has a new show on MSNBC. Now child abuse victim speaks up for "publicity." She has no book coming out, no law suit, no financial gain from any of this. Melkin engaged in the typical victim blaming that enables rape culture to thrive in this country.

[quinnox]

35. Well, she was there at the time, and in contact with Allen

So, its something to take into consideration. I found it interesting that Mia's legal team wanted her to lie about her age in order to use this in the trial, that seems to say something about credibility in terms of what was going on there at the time, in my view.

[redqueen]

41. This woman just changed her story live on camera, but you're taking her word as credible

when it comes to her allegations regarding what Mia's legal team discussed with her?

Interesting.

[gollygee]

44. Maybe she had a false memory

/sarcasm

[redqueen]

46. The amount of mental gymnastics people are engaging in in order to defend Allen is fucking sickening

beyond belief.

It truly is shameful. This woman is obviously simply regurgitating whatever Allen's publicists tell her to say.

[quinnox]

47. I just watched the CNN interview, she seems credible to me

How do you think she changed her story?

[redqueen]

49. ...

When Piers Morgan questioned her about the age of consent in LA, which was 18, Melkin suddenly changed her story on a dime to say they didn't get together until she was 18, after previously saying several times that she had been 17.

[quinnox]

54. I just read the transcript, and I wouldn't say she "changed her story" because of that

its a small detail.

[BainsBane]

62. It's a detail that makes a difference between a relationship and a felony by Woody Allen

Holy Shit.

You know, one of those minor technicalities called RAPE.

[edbermac]

57. Transcript is here:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1402/03/pmt.01.html

NELKIN: I was flown up there and I would come back to visit him, and occasionally, he would come visit me in L.A. but he hated it.

MORGAN: Right. But you are aware that the legal age of consents in L.A. would be 18 and not 17 as...

NELKIN: Oh, I was 18 at that time. No, no. I was 18 at that time. Yeah.

MORGAN: Right. So, there's never anything illegal about it?

I don't know if she changed her story like you said or whether she meant that she was 17 in NY and when she eventually went to LA she had turned 18.

[BainsBane]

51. I don't believe that.

A lawyer who knowingly presents false testimony can be disbarred. I don't believe for a second that someone like Dershowitz would risk that. I have no love for the guy, but he is a highly respected attorney and Professor at Harvard. From what I saw on TV last night, my impression is this woman is factually challenged. You might look at CNN's site and see if you can find the interview and make your own determination. Mia's lawyer was also there, as were some others talking about the case.

[Gormy Cuss]

58. Do your exes know about your life now to that degree?

She's defending Allen based on what she knows of him, what he told her, etc. It has less to do with her credibility and more to do with her authority --IOW, she doesn't know what happened at all. Her allegation that she was asked to lie about the age at which she started dating Allen is really the only subject where she has input that is first hand.

[1000words]

34. Jerry Seinfeld

"When he was in his late 30s, Seinfeld began a four-year romantic relationship with then-17-year-old high school student Shoshanna Lonstein."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Seinfeld#Personal_life

[rgbecker]

40. Why don't you just come over here and shoot me dead.

These guys are comedians for Christ's sake...don't do this to me!

[LanternWaste]

45. I doubt she'll be accused of harboring false memories of her youth...

I doubt she'll be accused of harboring false memories of her youth...

[kskiska]

52. President Grover Cleveland married a woman 27 years his junior in the White House

He had been her legal guardian since age 11 after her father died.

"Cleveland entered the White House as a bachelor and left a married man and father of two. His new wife was a beautiful young woman 27 years his junior named Frances Folsom. Frances was the daughter of a former law partner and Cleveland's legal ward; Cleveland had literally known her since she was born. When she was 11, Frances' father died and Cleveland became her legal guardian, remaining close friends with her mother. His pet name for Frances was Frank. Observers thought Cleveland would marry his friend's widow and were completely surprised when, instead, he married Frances as soon as she turned 21."

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/grover-cleveland-gets-married-in-the-white-house

[redqueen]

56. Just a short 23 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

At least some things have changed.

[treestar]

65. Why would anyone date him, especially teens?

I don't get his attraction for teen girls. Geez when I was a teen girl, the last thing I dreamed of was someone who looked like Woody Allen. He has like zero sexual attractiveness.

[Frank Cannon]

67. Because he's a sex god.

If the muscular bod and the piercing eyes don't get them, his mellow voice just charms them right out of their panties.

[WinkyDink]

68. Who cares who "vouches" for WA? Do people expect pedophiles to be so in public?